DPA/AFP
Stockholm
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of the fatal stabbing of a man and a woman yesterday at an IKEA store in the Swedish city of Vasteras, police said.
One of the suspects, who sustained serious injuries, was initially thought to be a victim and was in hospital.
“This looks like a crazy incident,” Per Agren of the Vasteras police told a news conference yesterday evening announcing the surprise development and second arrest.
The two assailants are suspected of murder.
“We don’t know the motive,” he added.
The two victims died at the scene, and likely knew each other, but police have no information as to whether the victims knew their assailants, Agren said.
The second suspect – only identified as being born in 1979 – was rushed to the main hospital in Vasteras, 100km west of the capital of Stockholm.
Police have not established how he sustained his injuries but suspicions against him were raised after police interviewed witnesses, Agren said.
In addition to witness accounts, police have had access to CCTV.
A younger man, born 1992, was earlier apprehended outside the department store after being identified by witnesses, the police spokesman said.
A shaky video clip filmed by a passerby that was published on VLT’s website showed police arresting the suspect at a bus stop outside Ikea.
“I saw police come running toward a man standing and waiting at the bus stop. The arrest happened really fast, the man didn’t put up a fight but he was loud. He was maybe 30 or 40 years old,” Fredrik Pikkuaho, who filmed the clip, told VLT.
Police can be seen pushing the man to the ground but the suspect’s face cannot be seen clearly.
There was no indication the attack was terrorism-related.
The state crime prevention and counter-terrorism organisation Swedish Security Service (Sapo) said it was not involved in the probe.
Earlier, department store manager Mattias Johansson told reporters that those who were stabbed “appeared to be regular customers”, local newspaper VLT reported.
He said no IKEA staff members had been physically harmed, and the firm’s focus was on supporting affected customers and staff.
The furniture retailer evacuated the department store, and police checked the identities of motorists leaving the parking area.
A mobile police office was to be deployed today near the IKEA store as parts of efforts to garner witness accounts.
Officers were also to be deployed. Extra security guards were later deployed at a nearby shopping centre in response to concerned employees, VLT reported.
Ikea Group spokeswoman Martina Smedberg told AFP “there was no threat against the store”.
“We have no idea what the motive is,” she added.
She said she was unaware of “any other incidents of this nature” at Ikea stores, calling it “extremely unusual and serious.”
An industrial town with 110,000 inhabitants, Vasteras is Sweden’s fifth-biggest city.